Jeff wrote:Was just checking this application out, and saw something on the page that made me look twice.

Can you spot what I saw? I know one person will...

Jeff,

I've been tracking that darn thing (Jeepster travel bug) for almost seven years. It was started in Michigan by another player and I've been trying to snag it since he first placed it. I've been close, but now it's in British Columbia and I'll have to wait for it to cycle back through this part of the states.

I picked up a travel bug here in the Peoria are several years ago and took it with me to Australia. Since then it's been to England and is currently in France. A couple of bugs I've managed to grab twice in their travels. Also, someone once released about a dozen yellow ducks on the east coast and we watched them race to the west coast. I snagged three out of the dozen when they came through the mid-west.

It's a fun sport, but can get very addictive. Here's a write-up that I did on a cache down in North Carolina ... you can see the addictivenss ... and the humor.

Having located the Black Thing caches and Tiny Purple #2 already, I was feeling a little cocky. Thought this would be a simple park and grab. But, I keep forgetting that thoughts such as those are usually followed closely by calamity.
Day One: I started this cache hunt yesterday. Parked a quarter mile away at some apartments and walked to the trail ... didn't see the trailhead when I drove by the first time. It was a beautiful day for a walk anyway, so no loss. As soon as I approached the cache location, I hung my GPSr in a small bush to let it do its final calculations. While it was deciding where the cache was actually located, I stumble around looking in likely spots. After a few minutes I rechecked the GPSr to see what it had decided.

Unfortunately, when I returned to the GPSr, I inadvertently disturbed a hive of bees. While my brain was still processing the consequences of this mess my, legs made a wise choice. They took off with the speed of a roadrunner while the rest of my body was making moves that would have left Michael Jackson speechless. After about 50 feet, my brain mentioned that we had forgotten the GPSr back at the origin of the pain. After much arguing, the cost of the GPSr won out and we agreed on a circular route through the woods to retrieve it. I grabbed the GPSr as we circled by and continued towards the road. Once at the road, I stopped long enough to beat a dozen or so persistent ones to death. Three of them hid someplace in my clothing though and weren't dissuaded until I got back to the car.

Once the rush of North Carolina style geocaching wore off, I checked and found that 14 of the little buggers had counted coup upon my body. Decided not to pursue this cache any more and instead I would concentrate on finding a few virtuals to fill up the rest of the afternoon.

Day 2: Today I'm really mad ... I hate to log no finds. Thought all day about geocaching combat style ... couldn't find any wasp and hornet spray, so decided against that approach. Finally decided on a stealth approach. So, here I am sneaking in to the area with extreme caution. Feel as nervous as a sinner in the front row of church. I can see my footprints from yesterday. Wow, I was actually making 12-foot strides â€¦ I'm sure they would have been longer if I wouldn't have been going up hill at the time.

Luckily my GPSr remembers being left behind so it doesn't fool around. It takes me around the bees and shows me a better place to look. Then it slowly (even it doesn't jump around this time) takes me towards the cache container. We located it after what seemed like a lifetime ... it's hard to concentrate when you're constantly looking over your shoulder. Signed the log and retreated to safer ground.

So, if you want a really interesting cache hunt, I highly recommend this one. Right now it seems guaranteed to add a whole new dimension to your cache hunting experience. Of course, maybe they only like to play with us Yankees ... guess I'll leave that for you to investigate.